FRISCO, Texas — The on-ice portion of the Dallas Stars development camp started Saturday at the team practice facility in Frisco.
The five-day camp, which started with off-ice testing Friday, was the first chance for some of the Stars newest prospects to visit Texas.
“It was really cool walking into my stall and having my Stars jersey,” 2017 first-round pick Jake Oettinger said. “I think one of the biggest parts and reason they have this camp is to get know each other and get to know the staff. So I’m going to try and meet as many guys as a I can and get to know them.”
Oettinger, who was taken with the No. 26 pick, is joined by No. 3 overall pick Miro Heiskanen and second round-pick (No. 39 overall) Jason Robertson as some of the more marquee names at camp, which is built around getting players acclimated to life as a pro hockey player.
“That’s the big difference now, the things off the ice,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. “As the game has progressed the difference between the players that succeed and those that don’t has become the willingness and ability to buy in off the ice.”
As Stars conditioning coach J.J. McQueen put it, this week is all about giving each prospect the best chance to succeed.
“No one is making the team this week, but we are giving them the tools they’ll need to make the team some day,” McQueen said.
Heiskanen signs
The Stars signed Heiskanen to his three-year entry-level contract on Saturday.
“Yea I’m really excited, it’s a really big day for me,” Heiskanen said. “Of course I will do my best to play in the NHL as soon as possible.”
Heiskanen will likely play in in Finland this season. Nill said Heiskanen will come to training camp in Dallas this season, but if he doesn’t win an NHL job he’d like to see him playing in Finland.
Bedard confirmed
The Stars have yet to formally announce it, but Jim Bedard has joined the team as a goalie coach/director of goalie development (his official title has yet to be announced), and was working with prospects on Saturday.
Bedard is going to spend 80 percent of his time in the AHL with the Texas Stars, while he’ll also spend time with the ECHL-affiliated Idaho Steelheads and scouting goalies for the organization.
Familiar faces
For some of the Stars prospects development camp is a reunion with former teammates or rivals.
Heiskanen and Roope Hintz played together with HIFK last season. Hintz said he called Heiskanen after the Stars drafted the younger Finn, and was excited to have the defender in the same organization.
“He’s very good people, very good guy on the ice,” Hintz said. “He’s a very good skater and he can play with the puck.”
On the flip side Oettinger and 2016 first-round pick Riley Tufte have a past history. They played against each other last season in the NCAA tournament and when Oettinger was a freshman he played against Tufte as a high schooler in Minnesota.
How’d that go?
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Oettinger said, who later admitted his team lost to Tufte in a shootout that game.
Language barrier
At this time last year Denis Gurianov needed a translator to converse with the media. He still is a bit choppy on the English language and needs some questions explained, but the Russian has made major strides when it comes to dealing with the media.
On Saturday after camp he held court with media members, and joked that he needed Tufte to come over and translate.
It’s taken some time to come out publicly, but Gurianov has a great personality and is a bit of jokester. He’s still taking English classes, and he continues to pick up added parts of the English language by watching movies (mostly comedies) and playing video games in English.
Upcoming schedule
Development camp continues this with on-ice sessions at 10 a.m. each of the next three days. The on-ice sessions run for roughly two hours and are open to the public, there will not be a scrimmage like there was in past seasons.
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